“All the Different Pieces of Me Being Integrated”: Religion/Spirituality and Identity in Working Christian Mothers

The current qualitative study explored experiences of religion/spirituality and their impact on women’s identities among Christian working mothers in academia. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data analyzed using the grounded theory method. The resultant themes reflected the...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Laney, Elizabeth K. (Author) ; Carruthers, Lisa A. (Author) ; Hall, M. Elizabeth Lewis (Author) ; Anderson, Tamara L. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage Publishing 2022
In: Journal of psychology and theology
Year: 2022, Volume: 50, Issue: 2, Pages: 139-159
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Woman / Spirituality / Identity
IxTheo Classification:AE Psychology of religion
CB Christian life; spirituality
NBE Anthropology
Further subjects:B marriage and family systems
B gender issues
B God concepts / God image
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The current qualitative study explored experiences of religion/spirituality and their impact on women’s identities among Christian working mothers in academia. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data analyzed using the grounded theory method. The resultant themes reflected the roles and functions of religion/spirituality in women’s lives and in their identities, primarily by establishing a core sense of self that unified all of their roles and “selves.” Religion/spirituality also served as meaning-making frameworks that provided purpose both to the self and to each of the women’s roles, while religion/spirituality also pervaded every aspect of the self, coloring women’s experience and driving their decisions. Further, women discussed religion/spirituality providing a sense of purpose by which they could pursue actualization and transcendence through generative means in each of their roles. The results indicate that spiritual identity may be a broader and more fundamental element of identity than previously considered. Implications of the current data and suggestions for future research are discussed.
ISSN:2328-1162
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of psychology and theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0091647121990630